What is a response team
When an Interpol member state lacks the resources to deal with a crime, disaster, or event, it can seek assistance in the form of a response team, a specialised crisis assistance team which can be deployed by Interpol within 12-24 hours anywhere around the world to help national law enforcement agencies and government bodies deal with a specific incident.
Types of response teams
Two different types of response teams are presently available for request: the Interpol Incident Response Teams (IRT) and Interpol Major Event Support Teams (IMEST), which provide different services.
IMEST teams provide assistance with security arrangements for significant international events, whereas IRTs are deployed to assist in either crime- or disaster-related matters.
Incident response teams
The two types of incident response teams available for deployment to Interpol member states are:
- Crime team: provides context-specific criminal expertise and investigative support
- Disaster team: supplies disaster victim identification (DVI) assistance
Crime team
When an Interpol member country faces a major police-related issue within its borders, a crime team can assist in actions such as:
- querying fingerprints or facial records in Interpol’s databases
- analysing electronic devices
- providing crime scene management
Disaster team
The disaster team provides assistance to countries following unexpected large-scale natural disasters or accidents, regardless of whether they were open disasters (where the number of casualties is unknown) or closed disasters (where there is an established number of fatalities).
Disaster victim identification
A disaster team will also provide disaster victim identification (DVI) assistance, which is the international method used to identify the victims of either natural or man-made mass casualty events, and involves a four-phase identification process:
- Scene examination
- Post-mortem data analysis
- Ante-mortem data analysis
- Reconciliation of information
Major event support teams
An Interpol major event support team (IMEST) can be deployed to member states to help manage and coordinate security arrangements for high profile local or international events, such as a conference, a summit, or a sports-related matter. An IMEST team can help local law enforcement and government agencies in tasks such as:
- screening travellers and visitors
- checking and verifying identities in Interpol’s Stolen and Lost Travel Document (SLTD) database
- providing real-time data updates on wanted person notices and stolen motor vehicles
- assisting in identifying persons of interest
Should a crisis occur during an event, an IMEST team can also transition to functioning as an incident response team if needed.
Command and Coordination Centre
To obtain the assistance of a response team, a request needs to be lodged with Interpol’s Command and Coordination Centre (CCC), which “coordinates communications between Interpol’s 196 member countries and the General Secretariat”.
The CCC offers assistance around-the-clock and 365-days-a-year through its three operation rooms located in Buenos Aires, Singapore, and Lyon, all of whom can respond to requests in Arabic, Spanish, English, and French.
Requesting assistance
Interpol member states who wish to request assistance from a response team should do so via their National Central Bureaus (units within each Interpol member nation’s national law enforcement agency that connects them with the General Secretariat via the I-24/7 global police communications system), who are authorised to request the deployment of an IRT or IMEST from the CCC.
Operations and Field Deployment Unit
As of 2023, a new sub-unit within the Command and Coordination Centre was established, named the Operations and Field Deployment Unit (OFD), which “plays a pivotal role in optimising the operational and tactical aspects of Interpol’s deployments to foreign countries” and is tasked with organising and deploying incident response teams and major event support teams.
Key takeaways
For those member states which lack the resources to properly coordinate major events or investigate crime-related matters or disasters, Interpol can provide assistance via its major events support teams and incident response teams.
They can be deployed by the Operations and Field Deployment Unit that operates within the Command and Coordination Centre within 12-24 hours, anywhere in the world, and can assist in collecting evidence, investigating crime scenes, offering event security support, and providing disaster victim identification assistance.
